Green Bay — Three games in, the Green Bay Packers are back to square one in the return game.

The plan to have Jeremy Ross take over disintegrated in Green Bay's 34-30 loss Sunday at Cincinnati. Less than 24 hours after his fumble led to a Bengals touchdown, Ross was shown the door. Now, the Packers must decide if they have the answer in house.

Two critical mistakes in Ross' last four games, with next to no pizzazz in between, proved too much. Coach Mike McCarthy said the decision came down to "production, performance." Two weeks before his next game, he wouldn't hint at what the Packers planned to do next.

"We always have an idea," McCarthy said, "but as far as how we prepare, and really with the game plan, and as we go into the game with Detroit will determine which direction we go."

Before quarterback Aaron Rodgers even touched the ball Sunday, the Packers were down, 14-0, at Paul Brown Stadium. Fielding a kick return, Ross appeared to lose sight of the ball in the sun, couldn't handle it and the Bengals took over. Ross also will be remembered for the momentum-changing muffed punt at San Francisco in the playoffs last season.

While he fared OK on his two punt returns, Ross averaged only 12.5 yards on his six kick returns. Wide receiver Randall Cobb has returned one punt for 16 yards with four other fair catches. But with Cobb breaking out as go-to weapon on offense, the Packers wanted someone else to take over in the return game.

"What happened to (Ross) yesterday was unfortunate," special teams coach Shawn Slocum said, "and we've got to be better than that.... We'll have more discussions on that as we go through today and this next week. Fortunately, we've got a bye week and then we'll get into our game plan for Detroit."

A standout baseball player in high school, Hyde showed an ability to naturally track the ball on punt returns this summer, and he had one 13-yard return during the preseason. Franklin's only kick return went for 14 yards. He did flash decisiveness and breakaway speed on a 51-yard run Sunday, which could warrant further examination in the return game.

The Packers hadn't added a player to the 53-man roster as of Monday night.

RB uncertainty: One day after another injury, running back James Starks is hoping for the best. His knee was "bent up the wrong way, twisted up" when he jumped and landed awkwardly on a 1-yard run at the end of the first half Sunday.

The fourth-year pro speculated ligaments may have been strained. An MRI was performed on the knee and he's now waiting on the results.

Starks said he didn't believe he would be ready if he had to play this week. There's still swelling in his knee.

"More time to heal and get right and get back to doing what I was trying to do," Starks said of the bye week. "They're just making sure everything is good from the swelling and everything. But it feels better than it did."

"It's been unfortunate," offensive coordinator Tom Clements said, "but hopefully when we get all of them healthy, we'll be able to let them roll."

Franklin, who returned from his injury in the loss, rushed for 103 yards on 13 attempts with a touchdown. As Clements pointed out, Franklin didn't run behind the first-team offensive line through training camp. Once he had that opportunity on Sunday, he looked like a totally different running back.

"He ran the ball well, he saw the holes, he got through them quickly," Clements said. "He was patient on the runs on the outside runs, set up his blocks very well. He did a good job in pass protection as well."

Lacy seems ready to return in Week 5 against the Detroit Lions. The rookie didn't practice all week and was listed as questionable but warmed up Sunday to see how he'd respond to a higher heart rate. Caution reigned.

No second-guessing: McCarthy isn't into second-guessing himself. So he's not about to do that here.

The play in question came on fourth and inches with 4 minutes, 1 second to go.

McCarthy called for Franklin up the middle, the rookie fumbled, Terence Newman was off to the races and the Bengals took the lead for good.

With a chance to relive it all over again on film, McCarthy said he would not change his decision.

"It was a solid call," McCarthy said Monday. "There's a number of things that went into that decision based on the mark. In pre-game for the field goal, and the wind, and so forth. I had plenty of time to think about it."

The Packers were OK with Franklin going airborne in that situation, Clements said. Clements noted that while the team has used quarterback sneaks in the past, "we've tried to develop are some runs that give you the same benefit as a quarterback sneak with a guy who's used to running the ball."

For now, McCarthy will live with his decision, referencing a bit of advice from former Kansas City Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer.

"A real smart coach told me this once, at a young age, there's two types of guys who call plays," McCarthy said. "There's guys who second-guess themselves and there's guys that lie about second-guessing themselves."

Lamenting penalties: Echoing his players, defensive coordinator Dom Capers said he wasn't sure if he could ever remember forcing turnovers on four straight possessions. Against Cincinnati, however, it wasn't enough. Despite a flurry of turnovers, and holding top priority A.J. Green to 46 yards on four receptions, the Packers lost.

Outside linebacker Nick Perry drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty near midfield after one Green reception. And on the other, Tramon Williams was flagged for unnecessary roughness.

"They made a couple plays and then you add 15 yards onto that," Capers said. "You put them right down there in the red area and that's really what happened on those two drives.... When you're in games like yesterday, you can't give them those chunks of yardage and you can't give them penalties."